Trends, topics, and lessons learnt from real case studies using mesoscale atmospheric models for urban climate applications in 2000–2019

Crowdsourced air temperatures contrast satellite measures of the urban heat island and its mechanisms

“…However, several such frameworks ( 40 , 41 ) do not necessarily agree with each other. On the other hand, process-based numerical models are restricted by both the quality of input data and the large potential variability in model parameters in urban areas ( 42 , 43 ). Our statistical approach relies on a priori assumptions about mechanistic links between predictor and response data, with the linear models assuming linear dependence between response and predictor, and the RFs also including nonlinear interactions.…”

Urban Heat Island and Its Interaction with Heatwaves: A Review of Studies on Mesoscale

“…The modeling approach offers a solution to overcome the limitations of in situ measurement and remote sensing as it provides information at high spatial and temporal resolutions and can also test hypothetical scenarios and assess potential future impacts. Promising results have been obtained using the modeling approach in the past few decades [44,70,71]. The details of the various numerical models are summarized in Table 2.…”

“…The details of the various numerical models are summarized in Table 2. These models all comply with the same fundamental mass, momentum and energy conservation laws but differ in hydrostatic assumptions, formulation of equations and available options in parameterization schemes [71]. Among them, WRF, developed by the National Centre for Atmospheric Research, is the most popular one, which can capture temporal-spatial variations in regional climate (temperature, wind, shortwave and longwave radiation, rainfall, surface heat fluxes and other environmental variables) caused by urbanization and has been successfully applied to simulate many UHI and HW events [9,[72][73][74][75].…”

“…To precisely resolve the surface energy balance in the atmospheric model, land surface models (LSMs) are usually coupled to provide parameterizations for sub-grid-scale atmospheric processes [71]. These models vary in the level of complexity from simplified bulk representations (such as Noah LSM [76], which treats urban areas as homogeneous and flat surfaces with properly modified radiative, thermal and aerodynamic properties [71,75,77]) to single-and multi-layer urban canopy models (UCMs) that take into account in more detail urban morphology characteristics, building material parameters and anthropogenic heat release [71,78]. Single-layer UCM (SLUCM) [79] considers two-dimensional and symmetrical street canyons with an infinite length.…”

“…Single-layer UCM (SLUCM) [79] considers two-dimensional and symmetrical street canyons with an infinite length. It resolves mass and energy exchanges between the lowest level of the atmosphere and the canopy's roof, wall and road surfaces [6,71,78]. Building Effect Parameterization (BEP) [80], which is a multi-layer UCM (MLUCM), accounts for the three-dimensional nature of urban surfaces.…”